I have been swimming for several weeks now and nearly every time I get out of the water I have a sore throat. Its like the pain you get when you know youre coming down with a cold. After Monday's swim it was killer. Made it tough to swallow supper and then the next day I sounded like a frog. A co-worker told me I sounded horrible and thought I needed to go home sick.

This is not an illness because I have had this only for a day or so after swimming and then it subsides over the weekend while I am not in the water only to return Monday's and Wednesday's after laps.

DirkP - 2009-10-28 5:41 PM Anyone get a sore throat from swimming in a pool?

I have been swimming for several weeks now and nearly every time I get out of the water I have a sore throat. Its like the pain you get when you know youre coming down with a cold. After Monday's swim it was killer. Made it tough to swallow supper and then the next day I sounded like a frog. A co-worker told me I sounded horrible and thought I needed to go home sick.

This is not an illness because I have had this only for a day or so after swimming and then it subsides over the weekend while I am not in the water only to return Monday's and Wednesday's after laps.

What kind of opinions are out there?

Hrm. How much water do you get in your mouth when swimming and are you swallowing any? My first thought is that it is related to the chlorine. If it's a public pool, find out when/how much they are using to control the pool, or if they have switched deck cleaners, etc. They aren't supposed to, but if they have new cleaning staff, some of the cleaning chemical can be getting washed into the pool and forming a surface film. (They might also be using a new cleaner).

Although it's never really caused me pain, though, I have gotten out of the water with a rough throat before.

I get as little water in my mouth as possible. I didn't think about a chemical from the deck washing in and causing problems. I doubt it is a change in cleaning supplies because I have only been swimming for about 6 weeks. The pain has escalated since the beginning but never really been an issue at all until Monday night.

I swam tonight and it is less of a problem than the other night but still hurts slightly. Tomorrow could tell a better story about what it will be like.

I did get a sore throat when I changed pools in September for a week. I also got an eye infection from said pool. I never went back. It use to be a nice place, but in my area, everyplace is cutting back. I believe the pool at this place was one of the cutbacks.

Might sound crazy but I bet the problem is in your ears. Swimming and ear infections go hand in hand. Pool water gets stuck your ear, you get an infection in your ear or eustation tube and the infection drips into your throat making it sore. You take a couple days off and your ears dry out enought that it doesn't run into the throat but not enough to go away. Hop back in the dirty pool water and the cycle continues. Put some alcohol or peroxide drops in your ears and see if it helps.

If that doesn't work then your problem is gremlins. Never get those things wet.

Might sound crazy but I bet the problem is in your ears. Swimming and ear infections go hand in hand. Pool water gets stuck your ear, you get an infection in your ear or eustation tube and the infection drips into your throat making it sore. You take a couple days off and your ears dry out enought that it doesn't run into the throat but not enough to go away. Hop back in the dirty pool water and the cycle continues. Put some alcohol or peroxide drops in your ears and see if it helps.

If that doesn't work then your problem is gremlins. Never get those things wet.

Might sound crazy but I bet the problem is in your ears. Swimming and ear infections go hand in hand. Pool water gets stuck your ear, you get an infection in your ear or eustation tube and the infection drips into your throat making it sore. You take a couple days off and your ears dry out enought that it doesn't run into the throat but not enough to go away. Hop back in the dirty pool water and the cycle continues. Put some alcohol or peroxide drops in your ears and see if it helps.

If that doesn't work then your problem is gremlins. Never get those things wet.

Or feed them after midnight

Great point. I better post that point over in the nutrition forum. Give em the late night muchies and you're doomed.

Might sound crazy but I bet the problem is in your ears. Swimming and ear infections go hand in hand. Pool water gets stuck your ear, you get an infection in your ear or eustation tube and the infection drips into your throat making it sore. You take a couple days off and your ears dry out enought that it doesn't run into the throat but not enough to go away. Hop back in the dirty pool water and the cycle continues. Put some alcohol or peroxide drops in your ears and see if it helps.

If that doesn't work then your problem is gremlins. Never get those things wet.

Is this a good pratice to just add a few drops to your ears as a preventative measure?

Chlorine from the pool inflames mucous membranes. This causes problems with your nasal passages and ear canals which, is more than likely the cause of your sore throat. I have similar problems and have to flush my nose with Ocean Saline nasal spray and use Swim-Ear drying drops in my ears when I swim in a chlorinated pool. This is one of the reasons I prefer to swim in the ocean, even when the water temp is in the 50s.

Chlorine from the pool inflames mucous membranes. This causes problems with your nasal passages and ear canals which, is more than likely the cause of your sore throat. I have similar problems and have to flush my nose with Ocean Saline nasal spray and use Swim-Ear drying drops in my ears when I swim in a chlorinated pool. This is one of the reasons I prefer to swim in the ocean, even when the water temp is in the 50s.

no wonder...this helps much. been running into this problem last 2 weeks don't know why it hasn't happend before but man i thought i was getting sick for like 2 weeks, taking enough emergenC and other vitamins to fill a semi-truck.

Might sound crazy but I bet the problem is in your ears. Swimming and ear infections go hand in hand. Pool water gets stuck your ear, you get an infection in your ear or eustation tube and the infection drips into your throat making it sore. You take a couple days off and your ears dry out enought that it doesn't run into the throat but not enough to go away. Hop back in the dirty pool water and the cycle continues. Put some alcohol or peroxide drops in your ears and see if it helps.

If that doesn't work then your problem is gremlins. Never get those things wet.

This makes me think a little bit. This could be the issue with me because I have had a problem with my ears draining after I get out of the pool. However, I would be surprised if it was this specific pool that caused any infection because it is generally very clean and well maintained. My daughters have swam at this pool many years with only one problem I remember.

I thought I was over the gremlins when my girls quit checking under their bed...er ahh....I quit checking under their beds. I will have ro re-research these critters.

BTW, I am kinda glad....in a good way, I am not the only one experiencing this problem. I thought maybe I might be looking up rather than keeping my head in a neutral position and straining my neck but I focused on this the last couple of swims and this did not solve the problem. So I thought it might be best to refer to the wise guys (oops did I really write that?) on BT. What I really meant was the incredibly well informed, educated, wise people that frequent this site.

I actually am quite miserable when I get out of the pool. Me and my box of kleenex become quite close for at least a half a day. So today I actually tried this Ocean Saline nasal spray as well for the first time. My kleenex box is still getting used, but not near as much. So far I am ruling the product a success.